People

Tobias Cremer

PhD, MPhil (Cantab), MPP (Harvard), BA (IEP Paris)

Junior Research Fellow, Pembroke College
AFFILIATION
College
Pembroke College

Tobias Cremer is a Junior Research Fellow in Religion and the Frontier Challenges at Pembroke College Oxford and a stipendiary lecturer in Politics at Wadham College Oxford. His research focuses on the relationship between religion, secularisation and the rise of right-wing identity politics throughout western societies. In his doctoral research (University of Cambridge, funded by the ESRC) Tobias explored how right-wing populist movements in Germany, France and the United States employ Christianity as a cultural identity marker, and how believers and church authorities are reacting to such referencees.

Tobias holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge, an MPP from the Harvard Kennedy School, where he was a McCloy Fellow, an MPhil in Politics and International Studies from Cambridge University, and a BA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Sciences Po Paris. Across his career, he has worked in the German Parliament, the German Federal Foreign Office, and in management consulting. 

Tobias Cremer

Research summary

  • Right-wing Populism
  • Religion and Politics
  • International Relations
  • Identity Politics
  • Religion and Diplomacy
  • Secularism
  • Christian Democracy

Research interests

Elections and electoral politics, Comparative Politics and Government , Groups, Identities and Social Movements, Conservatism, Identity, Liberalism, Nationalism, Political Parties, Public Policy, Religion

Media

"Religious fervour is migrating into politics", Research interviewee for The Economist (27.03.2021)

"Staying with the Trouble", Podcast Interview with the William Temple Foundation (27.10.2020)

“When Religion and Populism Mix” Podcast Interview with the Providence Magazine’s Foreign Policy ProvCast (30.04.2020)

“National Populism and Christian Symbolism: A Conversation with Tobias Cremer”, Interview with the Berkley Forum, (27.01.2020)

“The Berlin Wall”, Radio Guest on BBC Radio “All Things Considered”, (12.11.2019)

“The Rising Right in Europe”, Radio Guest for BBC Radio 4 Documentary, (18.03.2019)

“The Far Right and Christianity”, Panel Participant on BBC Radio 4 “Beyond Belief”, (03.12.2018)

 “Defenders of the Faith: Why Right-Wing Populists are Embracing Religion”, New Statesman Cover Article, (30.05.2018)

Publications

"A Religious Vaccination? How Christian Communities React to Right-Wing Populism in Germany, France and the US." Government and Opposition, 1-21 (2021). DOI:10.1017/gov.2021.18

"Why are Christians in Germany more immune to far-Right populism than in the US?" Open Democracy (12.07.2021)

"Democracy After God: Faith, Populism and the Limits of Postreligious Politics", Breaking Ground (19.05.2021)

A Religious Awakening: Faith-based Responses to the Rise of Illiberal Nationalism, Co-authored volume with Elcott, D., Anderson, C. & Haarman, V. (2021): Notre Dame University Press.

"Nations under God: How Church–State Relations Shape Christian Responses to Right-Wing Populism in Germany and the United States", Religions 12: 254. MDPI. (2021). DOI: 10.3390/rel12040254

"Is Europe's Far Right Serious about Rethinking Its Attitude toward Judaism?" Mosaic Magazine (12.04.2021)

“Defenders of the Faith? Religion, National Populism and the Rise of Right-Wing Identity Politics”, Religion, State, and Society, (forthcoming), Routledge: Print ISSN: 0963-7494 Online ISSN: 1465-3974.

"The Capitol Storming Epitomizes the Shift from a religious to Post Religious Right" Providence Journal on Religion and American Foreign Policy, Providence Magazine (27.01.2021).

"Civil Religion vs. White Nationalism: Which role for Christianity in American Politics?" Georgetown Berkley Forum (22.01.2021).

“The Armenian Genocide and America’s Global Role: A Review of Laderman’s Sharing the Burden” (Book Review), Providence Journal on Religion and American Foreign Policy, Providence Magazine (14.09.2020)

“Herbert Butterfield: Britain’s Reinhold Niebuhr?”Providence Journal on Religion and American Foreign Policy, Providence Magazine (20.04.2020)

“The Resistance of the Protestant Church in Nazi Germany and its Relevance for Contemporary Politics”, The Review of Faith & International Affairs, 17:4, 36-47, (2019) Taylor and Francis, DOI: 10.1080/15570274.2019.1681728.

“The German Jihad: Germany, Britain, and the Geopolitics of Islam”, The British Interest (06.12.2019)

“The Religion Gap: Why Right-Wing Populists Underperform Among Christian Voters and What This Means for the Role of the Church in Society”, LSE Religion and Global Society Series, (20.12.2018)

“The Geopolitics of Renewable Energy” (Contributing author), Harvard Kennedy School Faculty Research Working Paper Series, (2017)

Related Media Coverage